Entwicklungspsychologie

• generativity vs. stagnation (or self-absorption)
• goal of leaving legacies (Hinterlassenschaft) to the next generation (kind of immortality; Unsterblichkeit)

types: biological, parental, work, and cultural

• series of periods with specific tasks and transition periods in between
• evaluation: collected data only from retrospective interviews, no statistics

• generally rather no; much interindividual variation
• too much emphasis on crises in stage theories

• influence of life-events (like marriage, children, widowhood) on personality
• mediating factors (like physical health, family support)
• role of adaptation process (appraisal and coping; Bewertung und Bewältigung)

• too much emphasis on change, neglecting stability
• focussing on major events, not on daily hassles (Ärgernisse) and stress

1. in stress perception

• less daily stressors
• interpersonal tension as the most frequent daily stressor
• more „overload“ stress

2. personal control

• general decrease in feeling of personal control (esp. sex and children)
• increase of control over finance, work, and marriage

• Big 5“ personality factors (Costa & McCrae, 1998) 
• some age-related changes in cross-sectional data (McCrae et al., 1999)

• considerable stability across the adult years (Costa & McCrae, 1992)

• most stability in intellectual orientation and openness
• most changes in nurturant/hostile [unterstützend/feindselig] and self-confidence [falsch in Santrock!]

• cumulative personality model (with experience, people become more apt [angepasst] in interacting with their environment, thus promoting stability of personality)

• change from romantic to companionate love [cf. Chap. 12]
• importance of security, loyalty, and mutual emotional interest

• pattern of marital satisfaction 

reasons and consequences of divorce:

• initiation more by women (66%) than by men (41%)
• gender-specific causes for divorce 
• consequences depend on several factors (e.g., age, length of marriage, children)
• women (44%) more often fear financial problems than men do (11%)
• ¾ of divorcees (Geschiedene) later approve their decision

• increasingly later age of children’s moving out („Hotel Mama“) 
• empty-nest syndrome, need for adjustment
• increasing number of returning children (B2B = Back-to-Bedroom)

• increasingly later age of children’s moving out („Hotel Mama“) 
• empty-nest syndrome, need for adjustment
• increasing number of returning children (B2B = Back-to-Bedroom)

• grandmothers more involved with grandchildren than grandfathers
• possible roles and functions

• cultural differences in grandparents’ roles
• increasing number of children living with their grandparents

• gradual shift with time of each generation’s position 
• increasing similarity with one’s parents (active genotype-environment correlation) [cf. Chap. 2]
• generation-specific perceptions of sources of conflicts

gender differences:

• most close relation between mothers and daughters
• wife’s kin (Verwandtschaft) more involved than husband’s kin
• maternal grandparents and aunts more often considered as loved relatives than from paternal side
• special problems of sandwich-generation (having both children and parents)

• • increased life expectancy (Lebenserwartung) [cf. Chap. 1]

country, ethnic, and gender differences:

• at age 75, 61% are female; at age 85 and older, 70% are female
• women have biologically more resistance to infections and degenerative diseases (possibly caused by their second X chromosome)

• in 1980, ca. 15,000 in U.S.; in 2000, 77,000; and in 2050, estimated 834,000
• different factors responsible (genetic, nutrition [Ernährung], education, personality, lifestyle etc.)
• significant proportion can be considered healthy

•  biological clock mechanism: telomere reduction with each cell division

• gradual increase in number of free radicals (freie Radikale) per cell
• free radicals tend to damage DNA and other cell structures

• lasting and elevated stress-hormone levels
•  increased risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension etc.

• general slowing of brain functions
• less lateralisation of brain functions (as compensation?)

• only in hippocampus and olfactory bulb (Riechkolben)
• only for weeks

• slower movements

• visual acuity (Sehschärfe)
• color vision (Farbwahrnehmung)
• depth perception (Tiefenwahrnehmung)
• lightness adaptation (Helligkeitsadaptation)

• cataracts (Katarakt, Linsentrübung, grauer Star)
• glaucoma (Glaukom, grüner Star)
• macular degeneration (AMD, altersbedingte Makula-Degeneration)

• hearing: some loss between 65–74, more after 75 years 
• smell and taste: some loss after 60 years

• continuing, but less frequent activity 
• less frequent orgasms for men
• 25% of 65-80 year-olds, and 50% of over-80-year-olds have erection problems

• prediction of status with 75-80 years („happy-well“, „sad-sick“, or „dead“) from characteristics at 50 years of age
• alcohol abuse and smoking best predictors for being dead with 75-80 years

• subjective health ratings surprisingly stable
• main problems: arthritis, hypertension, diabetes
• main causes of death: heart diseases, cancer, stroke (Schlaganfall)
• further causes: chronic lung diseases, pneumonia (Lungenentzündung) and influenza (Grippe), diabetes

•  males : females = 1 : 4; almost 2/3 of women over 60